Some Scars Never Fade

Chapter Three (C)

*Chris’s point of view*

I was right about feeling his kick afterwards. My body was sore from the blows I’d received, but my mood was bright because of my win.

Nathan noticed when he came to get me with Jadyn. “I see you’re sore, your movements are delayed,” Jadyn commented. “I’m sore as hell,” I confirmed, “But I’m too happy to really care.” We all grinned.

This morning, we picked Dylan up on the way and, the whole time we were in the van, we were talking about what we could have done and what we were going to do next time we trained.

We were all arguing when we hopped out of the vehicle in the parking lot. “Upper-cut,” Nathan said. “Side kick,” Jadyn answered. “Jabbing,” Dylan said. “I’m with Jadyn on the side kick,” I told them. “We all know how to kick from the side,” Nathan responded. “But its fun,” I pointed out, “And practice makes perfect.”

“Nothing is perfect,” Dylan agreed. “But that move is damn near close,” Nathan argued. “So is everyone’s upper-cut!” Jadyn exclaimed. “We’re not very good at jabbing either though,” I weighed options in my head, “We could use work there.”

All three of them turned to look at me. “What?” I asked defensively. “You’re not helping at all,” Jadyn complained, “You’re agreeing with all of us.” “I think we should exclude her from the voting,” Nathan announced. “I second,” Dylan sang.

“No gaining up on the girl!” I laughed, grabbing Dylan’s arm. “He’s on my side,” I said. “I am?” Dylan asked, pretending to be confused. “Yes, you are,” I told him.

“But I wanted to be on your side,” Jadyn whined. “She would definitely choose me before she chose you,” Nathan scoffed playfully. “Sucks for you guys, because she chose me over both of you!” Dylan started laughing.

Jadyn was about to respond when the warning bell went off. “Wait!” I interrupted him, “We’ll continue this argument later; I have to get to class.” I broke away from the group and Dylan joined me moments later.

We walked in silence for a bit before Dylan said anything. “You’re lucky you chose me,” he told me. We laughed and I shoved him into the locker before we went into class.

The first three periods were quick, but gym made my sore body ache. We were still playing dodge ball.

I would definitely be grateful when I could go home and be lazy.

*Tyler’s point of view*

After dismissing the idea of Chris being a fighter, I was sure it had just been me being dumb. At least, I was until gym class the next day.

When she walked into gym class, her movements were hesitant, almost delayed. She was sore from something, and I’d bet anything that it wasn’t from selling Girl Scout cookies.

When she changed into her gym clothes and came out, there was a bruise on her shoulder; it was a deep purple color. That definitely wasn’t there yesterday.